Everything Has Changed: Book Four

Chapter Four: December

Chapter Four: December

The plane trembles as we descend down to the ground. I can see Emily shaking and Ethan wakes up at the sudden movement. The tires hit the pavement and it shakes some more before we roll to a stop at the gate at LAX.

It hurt too much to be away from him so Friday morning, I went home after taking Emily to school and bought three plane tickets.

It was around nine when I paid for them and the flight was around noon, so I took an hour to pack our stuff for the weekend, picked Emily up from school, and went straight to the airport.

We spent six hours on a plane and an hour in between at a stop in Chicago.

So while it's around eight at night at home, it's only five in Los Angeles.

I make Emily take Ethan's hand and order them to walk in front of me while I pull the suitcase and the car seat.

My eyes stay locked on them as I walk.

I get out of the way and the kids stop with me.

I pull them aside to tie the car seat onto the handle of the suitcase.

"Mommy, I need to go potty." Emily whines.

"Alright." I tighten the strap and reach down to put Ethan on my hip.

He starts to squirm, reaching for the ground.

"Down!" He whines.

"Not right now." I reply.

He continues to squirm and Emily walks aside me with her hand gripping the belt loop of my pants.

I walk into the girls bathroom and am grateful to see the big stall is open.

I set down the suitcase an put Ethan down. Emily struggles with the button of her pants.

"Momma, I need help." She cries. She's tired and so is Ethan. It's around their bed time at home.

I unbutton her pants and she pulls them down. The toilet is too high so I lift her up and turn to make sure Ethan hasn't crawling out from under the door.

He hasn't, but he's standing next to the suitcase staring at me.

Emily finishes and wipes up and pulls her pants back on, struggling with the button. Ethan tries to scramble out from under the door but I grab him, in which he starts to scream.

"Mommy, my button!" Emily whines.

I walk over to her and set Ethan down, buttoning her pants. I set Ethan down and lift Emily so she can wash her hands, and once she's done, I grab Ethan and open the changing table to change his pull-up since he reeks of poop.

I wipe him up and give him a fresh pull-up, and then I walk out of the bathroom with Ethan on my hip and the suitcase in my hand. Emily holds onto my pants and we cross the airport, walking to the elevators.

I take them down to the main floor and I only packed one suitcase for all of us.

Emily and Ethan don't know we're coming here to see Danny, they just know we were taking a trip.

I flag down a taxi and the man puts the suitcase in the back. I grab the car seat and strap it in, and then I use Danny's location to tell the man the address.

I buckle Ethan into his seat and put Emily in the middle, strapped her seatbelt on tightly. I buckle my seatbelt.

"Momma, I need my booster seat!" Emily whines.